Architects, Climate Change and Transportation Policy
As we invest in a revamped mobility system, we need to do so much more than reduce greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle miles traveled. We need to do so much more than simply conserve fiscal and natural resources. What we need most in our evolving mobility system is a genuine and lasting opportunity to constantly enhance the human experience - a system that delights our senses, protects our mental health and physical well-being, elevates our spirit and enables us to live better, more equitable and socially engaging lifestyles. That's what roads, bridges, train-tracks, tunnels, skyways, sidewalks and bike paths are for - to connect us to our selves!
While at the transportation conference, I also had a chance to ask the Chairman of the California Air Resources Board, Mary D. Nichols, a few unanswerable questions:
- Is there any way we can use carbon credits to fund zoning code updates, i.e., monetizing the delta between a current zoning code's carbon footprint with that of a future, more optimal zoning code?
- Are there any informational models out there that accurately analyze and correlate land-use plans with the 'desire-path' of true human activity and measure that delta against the 'sweet-spot' for maximizing economic output?
- In a future system where every cost is accounted for and allocated towards something tangible, is there a way to identify the most optimal price for energy that ensures a reliable and yet realistic per capita GDP growth curve that can therefore be bonded against as a secure institutional investment strategy?
-Will Wright, Hon. AIA|LA